Textile value chain consultant, Thailand

The consultant will provide substantive support to UNEP’s work on trade and sustainable and circular textile value chains, under ETPU, and in close cooperation with the Consumption and Production Unit (CPU), in order to develop and share knowledge related to trade and sustainable value chains, build country capacity to use trade policy and trade finance instruments to build sustainability and circularity in textile value chains.

Remote

Start date: 1 February 2022
End date: 30 June 2022
Actual work time: 5 months

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global, regional and national level. This consultancy is posted in the Economic and Trade Policy Unit of the Resources and Markets Branch of the Economy Division. UNEP’s Economy Division works with international governments and non-governmental organizations, national and local governments, business and industry to develop and implement policies, strategies and practices that are cleaner and safer, incorporate environmental costs, use natural resources efficiently, reduce pollution and risks for humans and the environment, and enable the implementation of conventions and international agreements.

Within the Resources and Markets Branch, the Economic and Trade Policy Unit (ETPU) contributes to UNEP’s Sub-programme on Resource Efficiency by generating and disseminating knowledge, raising awareness, facilitating discussions, and forging strategic partnerships to advance a transition to inclusive green economies.

In 2022, the Economic and Trade Policy Unit (ETPU) initiates a new project to explore the role of trade policy in supporting circular and sustainable textile value chains, with the overall objective of integrating the trade work into the overall textile value chain approach. The project will focus on Thailand as one of the case studies and explore how trade policy and trade finance instruments could be used to support sustainable and circular textile value chains. The project will support government and SMEs to effectively use trade policy and trade finance instruments to improve sustainability and circularity of textile value chains and identify useful experience to be shared with other developing countries.

These activities require support of a professional to conduct policy research and engage with key stakeholders in Thailand. The UNEP ETPU currently does not have the required technical expertise in-house to deliver these activities, and therefore requires the service of a consultant.

Specific tasks and responsibilities per outputs

Output 1:
a) Develop an analytical framework for the Thailand case study.
b) Scan literature and data for quick mapping of textile trade flows in Thailand (e.g. main import and export countries, main materials/ type of textile products).
c) Scan and analyze trade policy instruments (including trade related measures) and trade finance instruments that are being used or could be used to support textile value chains (including their effectiveness and the need for improvement).
d) Identify environmental hotspots of the Thai textile value chain related to the triple planetary crises and its causes (based on qualitative analysis from literature review), and based on this identify gaps and opportunities to improve the use of trade policy and trade finance instruments to support circular and sustainable textile value chains (i.e. to address those hotspots).
e) Draft recommendations on how the national government can align trade policies to enable sustainable and circular textile value chains and how the trade finance community can support SMEs in pursing sustainable and circular textile value chains.

Output 2:
a) Summarize key messages from the Thailand case study.
b) Develop a slide set to disseminate the key messages from the Thailand case study.
c) Draft a web story to disseminate key messages from the Thailand case study.

Output 3:
a) Map out key stakeholders in the national trade community (policy makers, industries, and trade/ export-oriented business associations, trade finance institutions, FDI companies) and bring them into the project network.
b) Organize one roundtable consultation with the key stakeholders of the project to raise awareness and get buy-in.
c) Build partnerships and laison with other relevant organizations for effective cooperation on implementation of the project.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.